The IEEE 802.11s standard, which is currently still in draft form, is a sub-specification of the IEEE 802.11 standard, which specifies an industry standard for wireless network communications. The objective of IEEE 802.11s is to create a specification for the setting up of what are referred to in the technical world as wireless mesh networks or mesh networks. A mesh network is able to build up and configure itself largely autonomously.
From the document IEEE P802.11s/D3.02: >>Draft Standard for Information Technology—Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems—Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Specific Requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications—Amendment 10: Mesh Networking<<, a so-called >>proxy protocol<< is known, this being described in section 11C.9.5 of the document cited.
In the context of the proxy protocol, two types of node are distinguished. A >>proxy<< is a node which is normally—but not necessarily—a component of the mesh network. Such a proxy permits, for example, the temporary inclusion of communication partners from outside the network, which are not themselves a component of the mesh network. Since proxies arise at the (logical) boundary areas of a mesh network, they may also be referred to as mesh boundary nodes.
A represented node is a node external to the network which is associated with a proxy in such a way that a temporary or permanent communication relationship can be set up, between the represented node and the proxy together with other nodes associated with the mesh network, without the represented node becoming a component of the mesh network.
In conjunction with the rules of the standard document cited above, the proxy protocol pursues the objective of distributing the temporary or permanent association of represented nodes to their respective proxies in the mesh network.
One message provided in the proxy protocol, a so-called proxy-update message, in what follows: an association update message; and a corresponding proxy-update confirmation message, in what follows: an association update confirmation message, provide the means for the distribution of association information in a mesh network. Association information here refers to items of information about the association of a represented node with a proxy.
The association update message known until now has disadvantages.
One important disadvantage of the association update message known until now consists in the fact that it does not provide a structured information transmission by which simultaneous updating of several associations of represented nodes in relation to their proxies would be permitted. Furthermore, the association update message known until now permits no updating of association information in respect of represented nodes which are associated with a proxy other than the proxy which is sending the association update message.